Further down the page are still photos of this event, which I thought were sufficiently impressive, but then this evening I got a heads-up from Mike that video of the puppets was also available. The one above has narration in German, but just seeing the movement of the giant puppets is awesome (one is reminded that the Europeans have four centuries of experience manipulating marionettes). For example, they lift the giant's legs by having two men grab a rope and jump off the accompanying crane.
Here's the backstory, courtesy of Boston.com:
Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a several-day performance by France's Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled "The Berlin Reunion". Part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess. The storyline of the performance has the two separated by a wall, thrown up by "land and sea monsters". The Big Giant has just returned from a long and difficult - but successful - expedition to destroy the wall, and now the two are walking the streets of Berlin, seeking each other after many years apart.A more brief (but English-narrated) report from ITV is here. A video from an earlier European appearance is here.
Awesome is right.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the dreams of the folks who run these puppets are like. Especially in the last video you linked to, the girl puppet has a vividly lifelike quality, particularly when she blinks her eyes. I'll bet after a while the crews have a hard time not thinking of the puppets as alive.